Survival in the Hedge-The Hedge Preview

[ArcaneArts]

It's dangerous to go alone. it's dangerous to go in a group. Take a curse with you and tread carefully-we're about to go into The Hedge(supplement).

[TempleBuilder]

I've always wondered how the Hedge handled seasons...and the sun trying to kill you is a cute reference. I'm a bit curious though. Is the second or third fetch possible when the first is still around?

[Taidragon]

...I feel dumb. I posted thoughts about the supplement on the website rather than here. @.@

Ehg. Anyways, to repost, I really liked what I saw, and the seasons bits are genuinely a great idea for both making the Hedge seem like a place anything can happen in and for a great potential for comedy (I mean, hockey season). The section on time travel and the risks of abusing it was also a great section (though I can see it making players want to do it even more - played with a few like that).

That said, I am kind of worried about a couple of things; reposting from the comment, not trying to harp about this seeing as I noted them on the Discord (apologies to any Onyxpath staff, just trying to find the right place to discuss this).

Given all the advantages that Gentry have in the Hedge innately, it feels a little worrying that they have a whole time where the Hedge practically venerates them in Noble Season. On the other hand, given all they bargained for it feels fitting the Gentry would want a whole section of time devoted to them (even when every day is already devoted to them); fits the colonial angle they have (and gives me a "White History Month" vibe).

Another is Hunting Season, and the like – if a Fae Mount is a Hob (albeit one without contracts a uniform ability to enter the mundane realm without a merit benefit) then would they also be compelled to turn on their Changelings?

[Lysander]

How many of you have made Changelings that don't have Hallows in the Hedge? I only created one for my reclusive Coldscale seer in a game we used to play long ago.

[ArcaneArts]

...I feel dumb. I posted thoughts about the supplement on the website rather than here. @.@

Ehg. Anyways, to repost, I really liked what I saw, and the seasons bits are genuinely a great idea for both making the Hedge seem like a place anything can happen in and for a great potential for comedy (I mean, hockey season). The section on time travel and the risks of abusing it was also a great section (though I can see it making players want to do it even more - played with a few like that).

That said, I am kind of worried about a couple of things; reposting from the comment, not trying to harp about this seeing as I noted them on the Discord (apologies to any Onyxpath staff, just trying to find the right place to discuss this).

Given all the advantages that Gentry have in the Hedge innately, it feels a little worrying that they have a whole time where the Hedge practically venerates them in Noble Season. On the other hand, given all they bargained for it feels fitting the Gentry would want a whole section of time devoted to them (even when every day is already devoted to them); fits the colonial angle they have (and gives me a "White History Month" vibe).

Another is Hunting Season, and the like – if a Fae Mount is a Hob (albeit one without contracts a uniform ability to enter the mundane realm without a merit benefit) then would they also be compelled to turn on their Changelings?

I would need more information before having any particular feeling about the effects of Noble or Hunting Season, but I imagine that there is a catch to both in that the Lost have their own nobility and their own Wild Hunts, like the Ash Run and such, and the Hedge very often cuts both ways when it comes to that. Hobs and Strangers may have the advantage due to nativity and overwhelming power, but I imagine the True Fae still have to respect the authority of a Summer King or the Master of Keys within a hierarchy of nobility, and a Hunterheart has less to lose from the Hunting Season than a Rabbitheart(no I don't have all the names of all of the kiths memorized like I used to, it's been a while since I've been the Changeling Guy).

Where I take issue with the Noble Season, and this is very much just a "How Arcane Runs Changeling issue", is that I tend to lean towards a mood of pretense and artifice in Lost society. Sure, the Wyrd and Court Patrons recognize the power, authority, and nobility of the Courts, Entitlements, and positions within them, but I often make it feel more like a technicality-the courts gather in junkyard chique courtyards and dressed up treehouses. THe Scepter of the Autumn may have power, but it was adapted from a wrapping paper tube, the King of Winter's tower is made out of discarded books and doesn't have much of a toilet, the Spring court's party is lit by lights strewn between pipes, that sort of thing. The general point is that I like leaving a bit of feeling that all of politics of the Lost can't quite escape the feeling of kids playing at being adults, particularly when contrasted with the True Fae or some of the hobgoblin communities(not that I'm prone to having hobgoblins substantially different in "class" to changelings). The Noble Season, particularly if it does what I think it will, kind of strips that because it forces all of the ways the power and authority of the Lost is valid and legitimate to the foreground-and on the one hand, that can be very empowering, but on the other hand, it steals the power from pervasive imposter syndrome of Lost society.

I'm not hyper worried about it-I don't have to use it if I don't want to, I can adjust it if I need to, and I can also get over myself and remind myself that the Wyrd honors all those contracts and my entire sham-feeling society is itself a sham wrought by me-but I need a moment to be bugged by it before getting over it, and this is that moment.

How many of you have made Changelings that don't have Hallows in the Hedge? I only created one for my reclusive Coldscale seer in a game we used to play long ago.

I'm the exact opposite of this problem- with my first changeling, Noah Pyre, I kept engaging the Storyteller with side stories away from the main game where I built up his Hollow and all the things in it, so when it came to main stories, I could attribute the EXP from that towards character-centered advancement, to the point where my Dresden expy was more powerful than the rest of the group because I wasn't juggling the multiple aspects. Pretty much every other character I've had, sans Danica Stawski, has also spent serious time on their Hollow.

I'm never gonna own a house in life, might as well have as many houses as I can in games. XD

[Taidragon]

I would need more information before having any particular feeling about the effects of Noble or Hunting Season, but I imagine that there is a catch to both in that the Lost have their own nobility and their own Wild Hunts, like the Ash Run and such, and the Hedge very often cuts both ways when it comes to that. Hobs and Strangers may have the advantage due to nativity and overwhelming power, but I imagine the True Fae still have to respect the authority of a Summer King or the Master of Keys within a hierarchy of nobility, and a Hunterheart has less to lose from the Hunting Season than a Rabbitheart(no I don't have all the names of all of the kiths memorized like I used to, it's been a while since I've been the Changeling Guy).

Fair point, it is a little early to be making assumptions about things. However, the lack of any hint of Noble season affecting anything but the Gentry makes me inclined to think Entitlements won't be granted the same leeway. It's possible Entitlements will get their own season, or the ST could rule there is such a season, since the Hedge by and large is/has "whatever the storyteller deigns it to have", but I doubt it'll be Noble Season as written. We shall have to wait and see though.

Where I take issue with the Noble Season, and this is very much just a "How Arcane Runs Changeling issue", is that I tend to lean towards a mood of pretense and artifice in Lost society. Sure, the Wyrd and Court Patrons recognize the power, authority, and nobility of the Courts, Entitlements, and positions within them, but I often make it feel more like a technicality-the courts gather in junkyard chique courtyards and dressed up treehouses. THe Scepter of the Autumn may have power, but it was adapted from a wrapping paper tube, the King of Winter's tower is made out of discarded books and doesn't have much of a toilet, the Spring court's party is lit by lights strewn between pipes, that sort of thing. The general point is that I like leaving a bit of feeling that all of politics of the Lost can't quite escape the feeling of kids playing at being adults, particularly when contrasted with the True Fae or some of the hobgoblin communities(not that I'm prone to having hobgoblins substantially different in "class" to changelings). The Noble Season, particularly if it does what I think it will, kind of strips that because it forces all of the ways the power and authority of the Lost is valid and legitimate to the foreground-and on the one hand, that can be very empowering, but on the other hand, it steals the power from pervasive imposter syndrome of Lost society.

I admit, I'm not quite sure I follow this section. If it's meant to be that the Gentry are considered Nobles and the leaders of Changeling Freeholds/Courts/Court-adjacent Systems are not, then... I honestly get why it works that way. The Gentry are running by their own rules, and if you don't play by said rules then the systems don't support you. You need to fit very narrowly set categories that are meant to stratify their own numbers, so that even people who are by all rights equal are "just a bit more equal" than each other. If you don't, congrats, you don't get even their base benefits. Who cares if you have your own home - if it's on four wheels, gets pulled around by a truck and or doesn't have two and a half bedrooms and bathrooms, you're not a "real home owner" and thus not part of the neighbourhood potluck.

You know, like how real life Gentrification works. The upside is, as noted above, there could easily be other seasons the Gentry simply don't qualify for, even if logically they fit in some of the boxes.

That said, it doesn't render your own interpretations and hangups as invalid. Just as you noted for your section, what I posted is just how I interpret things, and based on a preview at that (and probably running on a misunderstanding of your stance to begin with).

[ArcaneArts]

I admit, I'm not quite sure I follow this section. If it's meant to be that the Gentry are considered Nobles and the leaders of Changeling Freeholds/Courts/Court-adjacent Systems are not, then... I honestly get why it works that way. The Gentry are running by their own rules, and if you don't play by said rules then the systems don't support you. You need to fit very narrowly set categories that are meant to stratify their own numbers, so that even people who are by all rights equal are "just a bit more equal" than each other. If you don't, congrats, you don't get even their base benefits. Who cares if you have your own home - if it's on four wheels, gets pulled around by a truck and or doesn't have two and a half bedrooms and bathrooms, you're not a "real home owner" and thus not part of the neighbourhood potluck.

You know, like how real life Gentrification works. The upside is, as noted above, there could easily be other seasons the Gentry simply don't qualify for, even if logically they fit in some of the boxes.

That said, it doesn't render your own interpretations and hangups as invalid. Just as you noted for your section, what I posted is just how I interpret things, and based on a preview at that (and probably running on a misunderstanding of your stance to begin with).

Like I said, it's very much just a "How Arcane runs Changeling" problem.